Jodie Whittaker Is The Next Doctor, And Women Have Feelings

A few years ago, I attended Gallifrey One, the American Doctor Who fan convention that takes place in Los Angeles every year. The experience was incredible; being surrounded by fellow Whovians, meeting the actors and creative minds behind the show we all loved and hearing them speak. But the main thing I noticed was the cosplay; the detailed costumes took my breath away, and I noticed the majority of women in attendance weren’t dressing as companions, but as Doctors. The women radiated confidence as they swaggered around the con with their sonic screwdrivers, pulling iconic poses as they took pictures with other fans and talked about their favorite episodes. Frankly, it was a beautiful thing to behold. Not to take anything away from the companions, all of whom are forces to be reckoned with in their own right; but being the companion, and being The Doctor are two very different experiences.

When the BBC announced on Sunday the 13th Doctor was going to be Jodie Whittaker, my first reaction was shock. I wasn’t shocked that The Doctor could be a woman, as the show had already established, in the Doctor’s own words, that Timelords could regenerate into another gender (that they were, in fact, beyond gender); but I was shocked that The Doctor was finally going to be a woman. Once the shock wore off, then came the tears, and they haven’t stopped. In the entire history of Doctor Who, women have always been the companions along for the ride. The closest a woman has ever come to being The Doctor was in River Song (Alex Kingston) who could fly the T.A.R.D.I.S, had a sonic screwdriver, and was part Timelord, but she wasn’t The Doctor; she wasn’t the hero of the story. Now, finally, a woman gets to be the hero.

Internet reaction to the news has been mixed, ranging from elation and tears of joy to irrationally angry cries about PC culture taking over the world accompanied by vows to never to watch the show again. Let’s be real for a moment; if you have a problem with the next Doctor simply because she is a woman, then you haven’t been paying attention to the theme of the show for the last…I don’t know, FOREVER. But digging past those idiotic arguments, are the ones that show just how meaningful this casting really is:

So, as the world gets ready for a new take on The Doctor, an entire generation of young women and girls will have a new icon in their lives. They’ll see themselves represented in her and know that they don’t have to just be the plucky sidekick; they can be the hero of the story.

Jodie Whittaker makes her debut as The Doctor in the upcoming Christmas Day special. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on all the latest Doctor Who news!